11 held in China for trafficking in women

Beijing: Police have arrested 11 people
suspected of trafficking more than a dozen women across China
since 2005, Chinese authorities have said.

The suspects were captured in Xingxian and Taigu
counties in north China`s Shanxi Province, where many of the
women were initially sold, officials said.

Police have freed two of the women and are trying to
locate more than 10 others, state run Xinhua newsagency
reported today.

Police said the ring targeted women from rural areas
in west China and sold them as wives to countryside bachelors
in Shanxi. Buyers paid thousands or tens of thousands yuan for
each woman.

Police said the operation was a difficult one as some
of the victims were believed to have mental problems and some
had also been trafficked out of the province. This is the
second such arrests carried out by police in the recent weeks
in China.